Gift of Gold

turned into a devoted handmaid.
    Jonas told himself he’d better enjoy the service and attention while he could. Knowing Verity, it wouldn’t last long.
    “I think you should be in bed, Jonas,” she said with a worried little frown as she checked his bandage for the thousandth time. “You know what the doctor said about shock.”
    “I’m not in shock,” Jonas assured her mildly. “But just in case I’m on the verge, why don’t you bring me something to drink? Whiskey might be nice.”
    “I’ve never heard of alcohol being good for shock.”
    “Trust me,” he said. “Whiskey has been used for centuries to cure everything from snakebite to shock. Works like a charm.”
    “If you say so.” She hurried over to the bar that had been set up in the long salon at the front of the house. The remains of several half-empty bottles and a number of unopened ones still littered the area.
    The bottles of liquor had been left standing where they were when the caterers and the guests had finally realized something dramatic had happened. Only the perishable food had been put away. Caitlin had asked everyone, including the elite group of bidders, to leave as soon as the sheriff’s men had finished. The catering staff had promised to return early in the morning to clean up before the auction.
    Verity’s peacock-blue gown was gone, discarded for a pair of snug-fitting jeans and a teal-blue long-sleeved top that fastened with ten tiny buttons down the front. Jonas watched his boss bend over to find a glass behind the bar. The woman did look good in a pair of jeans.
    Caitlin, Tavi, Verity, and Jonas were alone amid the aftermath of the aborted Renaissance ball. It was time for some explanations as far as Jonas was concerned; explanations that went beyond those that had been given to the authorities.
    “I want some answers to a few questions,” Jonas said as Verity put a cool glass into his hand. She sank down onto a footstool at his feet, close at hand in case he needed anything else. Jonas absently stroked her coppery hair with a sense of amused satisfaction. This was definitely a moment to be savored.
    Across the room Tavi and Caitlin sat close together on the gray banquette that lined one wall. Neither woman had said much since the authorities had left. Caitlin seemed to have retreated into a world of her own and Tavi had not left her side.
    The story given to the sheriff’s men had been truthful up to a point. No outright lies had been told, but two of the six people who had been intimately involved in the evening’s drama were dead. The other four had stuck to their story.
    It was a simple, straightforward tale. Kincaid had apparently planned to steal
Bloodlust
and had hired the mysterious Tresslar to help him do it. For whatever reason, Kincaid had decided he didn’t stand a chance in the coming auction. Jonas had interrupted the theft and nearly gotten himself killed. He had gone back to the house in time to find Kincaid trying to kidnap Verity, possibly because he knew she would be suspicious of his involvement when it was discovered that Jonas had gone over the cliff.
    Startled in the act of trying to subdue Verity, Kincaid had lost his gun and had gone for the nearest weapon, an old rapier hanging on the wall. Caitlin had quickly supplied Jonas with a blade of his own. Kincaid had been defeated but had made one last bid to escape. He had flung himself at Caitlin, who was holding one of the rapiers. She had instinctively brought the blade up to ward him off, and the rest was history.
    So to speak.
    Simple and straightforward. The sheriff’s men might not have liked certain parts of it, but it was a cinch they weren’t going to get any other answers. Every eyewitness told basically the same tale.
    “What do you want to know?” Caitlin asked quietly.
    Jonas took a swallow of whiskey. “The little plan for revenge you outlined to Verity and me this morning was a complete lie, wasn’t it? You never did intend to humiliate Kincaid in public. You intended to have him killed in private. By me. Let’s start with how much you know about me.” He felt Verity’s tension as she put one arm on his leg. She was watching Caitlin closely.
    Caitlin nodded slowly. “You have a right to know, I suppose.”
    “That’s putting it mildly,” Jonas remarked. “You said you heard me lecture at Vincent College a few years back?”
    “I attended the lectures because I had already heard about the experiments,”